Partial passage for my sermon “Love does not Boast”

I.  Intro: a nice basketball story or two…  one where I “Back up like Reggie”

II.  Why we Boast: as far as I can tell it is a mixture of fear, a desire to be part of something bigger (and greater) than ourselves (i.e. college football), and a desire for applause.  Pride often is near boasting in the Bible, but I think pride is often the presentation and is more like a bridge between those deeper desires and the sin of “vaulting oneself up” (My translation of the Greek).  None of these are sin, but they lead to sin and certainly point out our need for the Gospel.  Also, this is a robust defintion by description of love…  it is not weak.  not boasting implies actual strength.  Here I actually used a Battlestar Gallactica Reference.  So say we all?  SO SAY WE ALL!

III.  How we Boast: Stories, Fixing, Not Listening, Body Language, Eyebrows (let’s be honest, out eyebrows often call people idiots right?).  None of these things are sin by themselves – and those of us who want to be heard better…  Do we listen to the insight of the one giving advice?  Not heeding good advice is a form of boasting. We Boast…

IV.  The Gospel frees us from needing to boast, and into a relationship without fear, a mission greater than any other (as I’m typing I realize I didn’t hit that as hard as I wanted to), and an internal applause that actually delivers.

V.  Pay attention to the way you tell stories, listen, give advice…  then, believe the Gospel of Jesus more deeply and watch your need to boast slow down and go away.  This is the training grace of titus 2.

Thoughts?  Discuss…

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